8 December 2011Helen and Emma are the ‘women to watch’

Two University of Nottingham alumni were named in the shortlist for this year’s Hot Women Awards organised by Red Magazine.

The awards are designed to recognise inspirational women and positive stories about women in work and celebrate women in all fields of career success, from fashion to charity to business to science.

Emma Barnett (History and Politics 2006), who is the Daily Telegraph’s Digital Media Editor was on the shortlist for the Women to Watch 2011 award and the Internet 2011 award, whilst nurse Helen Allen (Nursing 2001), who founded and runs PEPAIDS (Peer Education Programme Against Aids).

Although neither won their category they were highly praised and shared the limelight at the awards evening in London with fellow shortlisted candidates including long distance runner Paula Radlciffe, retail guru Mary Portas, Times columnist and author Caitlin Moran, Co-founder and CEO of Jimmy Choo Tamara Mellon and Laura Lee, CEO of Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres.

Sarah Brown said of the shortlist: “This year we had lots of new names and new faces on the judging list to look at and a real mixture between women who have really made their mark, who are exceptional leaders in their field and whole lot of interesting young women coming through – real hot women to look out for.”

Emma Barnett has already been named Digital Journalist of the Year by the Association of Online Publishers. As a writer and broadcaster, Emma specialises in media, digital trends, culture and social affairs. She is currently the Digital Media Editor of the Daily Telegraph and a broadcaster regularly appearing on channels including BBC Radio 4, Sky News, CNN and LBC.

Helen Allen meanwhile was the British Journal of Nursing’s Nurse of the Year 2011 and a University of Nottingham Alumni Laureate Award winner. She has dedicated her working life to expanding the global dimension of nursing by inspiring and enabling other nurses and healthcare professionals to work alongside a Zambian organisation which acts to alleviate poverty and HIV/AIDS and by setting up the UK charity PEPAIDS.

PEPAIDS recently launched their Schools of Good Hope Project which aims to get 1,000 names on a giant Christmas card for schools in Gambia and raise £10,000 in the process. You can donate and get your signature on the card here http://www.pepaids.org/

So Helen took the opportunity of attending the awards evening to get some famous signatures on the card including DJ and TV presenter Jo Whiley, BBC Radio 6 presenter Lauren Laverne and singer and media personality Louise Redknapp.

Helen said: “Basically we've given ourselves a month to try and raise £10,000 for PEPAIDS' Schools of Good Hope Project and get 1000 names on a Great Big Christmas Card that we will send to eight desperately poor schools that we are working with in Zambia. We will be training the untrained volunteer teachers who run the schools and providing them with essential learning resources, so that over 1000 children can have a decent education that will enable them to climb out of poverty when they're older.

“It is a massive task and I'm giving it everything I've got! I've even roped the kids in! It would be amazing it if you could help us! Please go to www.pepaids.org and donate now to add your name to the card! It would really mean a tremendous amount to me as well as to the teachers and pupils in Zambia who have new hope because we're standing with them in this!

“Our Great Big Christmas Card Campaign is part of a wider fundraising competition! If we can get the most individual people to donate online and raise the most money, we could win an extra £2000, which, as you can imagine, will make a massive difference to Zambia's poorest School children! It's gotta be worth a try! We've got until 22nd December so please donate now! www.pepaids.org